Holiday
Holiday entitlement calculator: days, hours or shifts
Pick the way your working week is measured, say whether you worked the whole leave year, and the calculator gives the statutory minimum your employer must allow.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Statutory holiday entitlement is 5.6 weeks of paid leave in each leave year, made of 4 weeks under regulation 13 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 and 1.6 more under regulation 13A, with a ceiling of 28 days. In days, multiply the days you work each week by 5.6: a three-day week gives 16.8 days, a five-day week 28.0, and a six-day week still stops at 28.0. In hours, the same multiplier applies to your weekly hours, so 37.5 hours a week gives 210.0 hours. For a rota such as four shifts on and four off, the average of 3.5 shifts a week gives 19.6 shifts. A starter gets the share of the year left, in twelfths, rounded up to the next half day; a leaver gets the exact share of the year worked. Bank holidays may be counted inside the total. Irregular-hours and part-year workers in Great Britain accrue 12.07 % of hours worked instead.
Statutory holiday for a full leave year
16.8 days
| Full-year entitlement in days | 16.8 days |
| Legal ceiling | 28 days |
Bank holidays can be counted inside these 5.6 weeks. Irregular hours or part-year work in Great Britain: use the 12.07% accrual calculator instead.
Choosing days, hours or shifts
All three methods measure the same 5.6 weeks; they only change the unit. Days suit anyone whose working days are the same length. Hours are fairer when days vary, for example two long days and one short one, because a “day off” then means different amounts of time. Shifts suit rotas that repeat over a cycle longer than a week: enter the shifts in the cycle and its length in days, and the calculator averages them to a week and caps the result at five a week, the point at which the 28-day ceiling bites (regulation 13A).
| Working pattern | Input | Statutory leave a year |
|---|---|---|
| Three days a week | 3 days | 16.8 days |
| Six days a week | 6 days | 28.0 days (capped) |
| Full time in hours | 37.5 hours over 5 days | 210.0 hours |
| Four on, four off | 4 shifts in 8 days | 19.6 shifts |
Starting part way through the leave year
A starter is entitled to the proportion of the year that remains (regulation 13(5)). GOV.UK counts it in whole months: each month left, including the month of the start date, earns one twelfth, and the result is rounded up to the nearest half day. With a leave year beginning on 1 January 2026 and a first day of 15 June 2026, a three-day worker has 7 months to count, 9.8 days before rounding and 10.0 after. During the first year of employment, regulation 15A also limits how much can be taken at any point to what has built up month by month, though an employer can allow more.
Leaving before the leave year ends
For a leaver the tool shows the exact share of the year worked, counted in days, without rounding. A full-time employee whose leave year starts on 1 April 2026 and who leaves on 30 September 2026 has worked 50.1 % of the year, which is 14.04 days of statutory leave. Take away what was used and the balance is paid on the last payslip: holiday pay when leaving prices it.
What the figure does not include
The result is the legal minimum. Contractual days above it, long-service days and any “buy and sell” scheme sit on top and follow your contract. Bank holidays can be part of the minimum or extra to it; the bank holiday tool lists them for each nation. Workers whose hours are wholly or mostly variable, or who have unpaid weeks off each year, use the irregular hours calculator in Great Britain. In Northern Ireland the same 5.6-week rule and 28-day cap apply under the Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016, and nidirect gives the same multiplier for part-timers (nidirect, Holiday entitlements).